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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

This past Friday I met with my author buddy and editor, Cindy Hiday, (www.cindyhiday.com) for one of our frequent staff meetings. We call them that because we write alone and need another carbon-based life form for creative support. These days I joke(?) it takes at least three NASCAR pit crews to keep me together, but one of those pit crews is full of writer and author buddies.

Then on Saturday I met with my writer support group, a bunch of five authors and writers who talk about what is going on with our writing and our lives. We don’t critique each other’s writing, but we each get thirty minutes to tell what is happening with our life and art.

Turns out three of us had been through some pretty tough challenges in the last two months and the other two had been decompressing at the beach for seven months after moving to their dream location. We all support and help each other out. Writing is a craft we fit in around our pesky regular lives which keep intruding on our work. Personal and weather storms of all kinds don’t stop because we want to write our stories.

In these days of crazy news and even wackier odd things on tv, there is nothing like sitting with writer friends and really listening to each other. We unplug and open our ears to hear each others life stories. It always inspires and recharges me; like a camp fire without the smoke, flying embers and bats.

Writers need writer friends who support and encourage our work, plus hopefully bring snacks. If you don’t belong to a group like this, create one. That is how our group started, I needed one so I asked writers I was compatible with if they were interested. Now, several years later we are still at it meeting every other month for a couple hours.

No one understands a writer like a fellow writer. Let’s face facts, we can be an odd bunch at the best of times. Non-writers think we are in charge of our fiction characters and know what is going to happen. Ha! They also think we just whip out those non-fiction books and articles in no time flat. Nada.

One of my favorite sayings applies to writing, “If it was easy, anybody could do it.” True for both writers and Special Operations personnel; not everybody is cut out for the long gut grinding haul of these two professions. So whether you need a “staff meeting” or a “writer support group,” make sure you have writer friends and buddies to help you along the way.

It’s always a good idea to come out of our writer caves and interact with real people instead of screens and keyboards. Build your writer pit crew today!